Shoe sole



Feb. 27, 1945. HI GHEZ ETAL 2,370,303

SHOE soLE Filed Dec. l1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 www.;

n INVENTORS.- M15-", l 74 Henry 677 ez BY Oscar Ghez Feb. 27, 1945. H. 'G1-.Ez Erm. 2,370,303

SHOE SOLE Filed Dec. 1l, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,a/Eff. 4*-

INVENTORS: IiP/wy 67762.

@scar 6"/1 ez Patented Feb. 27, 1945 Unirse STA-'rss 'ement orties suonv soLE, Henry Ghez and Oscar Ghez, New York, N. Y.4v

Application December 11, 1942, semina. resistsv 14 .claim cci. `:ae-s3)- The present invention relates to a built;- up dr combined sole with or without a heel,or a heel, for shoesand footgear generally, to shoes,- sandals and the like provided with such sole or heels, and also the processv ofr making the samegand isl an improvement related to thoseI disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 443,648 led May 19, 1942.

The main object of 'our invention is-to utilize in the structure of a shoe sole a morel or less massive nat member of stili or at least somewhat stiff material, which is rendered resilient by the presence of a series lof slots' cut through the same alternately from one ofl the two side edges a-distance toward the other.

Another object of the invention is to combine such a resilient member with a continuous sole member of iiexible material and to assemble the f same with an upper by sewing, nailing or cementing the latter thereto without weakening the com s bined sole or losing any of the resiliency thereof in or from the process.

A further object is to produce such a combined sole which will avoid the necessityof using any large amounts of leather, metal, plastics or rub berorother materials which may at times-be expensive and even dicult to obtain.

It is likewise an object to have a combined; sole of the indicated character for shoes, sandals, etc., which is substantially waterproof, Ahas better wearing qualities than a leather sole, is light, hy-

' gienic, flexible, quiet in use and also anti-skidv in nature, and which may also be used "to establish new styles or-vogues in footwear.

Other objects. and the numerous advantages' of our invention and accruing from its use in the art will appear more fully as this specification proceeds.

In order tobring out the construction and nature of the invention in more comprehensible manner, the same is illustrated in the-accompanying drawings forming part hereof,` and in which,

Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a shoe provided with a sole made according to our inventionand embodyingthe salient features thereof inprac-v tical form, the section' being taken on line I-I in Fig. 6. A

Fig.r 2 is also a transverse section of the same as taken. on line 2-2 in said Fig. 6..

Fig. 3 is a section showing a modification of i the shoe sole of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 diagrammatical'ly illustrates one way of forming and assembling the sole of the shoes shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 'is a fragmentary perspectiveof the soie with av portion raised tofrevealmore clearly certain details of its construction.

Fig, 6'is abottom planfview of.` thel` shoe and particularly the. solei of Figs; 1 and 2.

Fig. is a similar view'of a heel made along the same lines of construction.

Fig. 8is a longitudinal section.v of said heel, taken on line 8 8' in Fig.7.'

Fig, 9 is a fragmentary 'transverse section of a sole which is avmodi'cation of thatl of Figs.: 1 and 2.

Fig.. 10 is alsoa fragmentary'section showing another'modication.

Fig. 11 shows a diferent; modification.

Fig. 12 is a plan viewof a sole having .a resilient member embedded therein tolform a more or less resilient filler of' rm material, the main portion of the sole being of resilient material.

Fig. 13 lis a longitudinal section of thesame taken on line l3--I3 of'Figure 12.

Fig. 14` is a. transverse view of a further modification ofthe sol-e of Figures l and 2.

Fig. 15 is yet another modii'ication in section.

Fig. 16 is a somewhat diierent modication of the same sole as shownin Fig. 15.

Fig; 17' is likewise an additional modification.

Fig. 18 is amoclificati'on having not only a lower rand but also an upper rand.

Fig.` 19 is amodiiication of the sole shown in Fig; 18.

Throughout the views,'the same references in-` dicate the sameor like parts. i' At certain times when leather, rubber and even some lplastics are in such'heavy demand that their cost rises considerably and they may even become diii'cultA tov obtain in anyv satisfactory quantities, it is desirable in the manufacture of footgear to make at least the sole of vthe same of a minimum of these materials while using certain other more common materialsin novel forms of construction to constitute excellent contribu` tions to the'art.

It is therefore proposed to use other materials to form the bulk 'of va sole or the like andonlyA Hence, in the practice of our invention, a shoe generally indicated at I2 has an upper I3 attached tovv a sole generally indicated at I4. This sole consists mainly of a body member I5V of plywood, plain wood,rplasticwood, molded plastics,

hard rubber, molded fibrous material, cork board, cork agglomerate, cork vulcanized fiber, pasteboard and the like, or any other normally stiff material which would be too rigid for use if not modified as will be immediately explained. This body member is preferably substantially fiat and is alternately slotted from the two side edges thereof to form a series of alternating open slots I6, I1, etc., each open slot extending a limited distance inward upon the sole from its respective edge. These slots may be convergent or divergent, parallel, non-parallel, straight, curved or zig-zag shaped, and their side walls may be con- Vex, concave, and parallel, convergent or divergent from the upper surface to the lowerv or from one end of the slot to the other.

Due to the presence of the open slots, or the like, the body member I is rendered flexible and in fact resilient so that, While it may be very light when it consists of Wood or wood veneers, yet the resiliency is superior to that of a solid rubber sole of equal size when made of that type of rubber used for soles and heels, this rubber being of course very much heavier than said wooden member. In order to present a finished and continuous peripheral edge to the oor or ground upon the sole, and also in order to connect the outer ends of the slots and prevent undue spreading or expansion of each individual slot, a continuous rand or rim I8 of vulcanized rubber, leather, or flexible plastic of the vinyl series or any other is xed in a marginal recess or shoulder I9, about the entire perimeter of the body member |5. The rubber, leather or plastic rand I8 may be flush with the bottom surface of the body member I5, when the slotted condition of said body member will serve as an anti-skid surface for the sole.

On the other hand, it is desirable to render the sole waterproof and also present a continuous and unbroken upper surface upon the same to the foot of the wearer and hence a sheet of rubberized or` waterproofed fabric or any other more or less flexible material 2| is cemented or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the wooden body member l5.

With the sole assembled as just described, the upper 3 is secured to said sole by stitching 22, 22, by nailing, or cementing to the waterproofed sheet 2 I, when the shoe will be found to be light, flexible and quite elastic due to'the presence of the resilient body member I5, while the appearance of the sole will be such as to mark a new vogue and form a nucleus for a group of new styles.

It is quite evident that the marginal portion about the body member I5 is thinner than the central portion due to the material removed in order to form the marginal recesses or shoulders, so that it is actually possible to stitch through the wood as well as through the rubber and the waterproofed material 2|. However, if the slots |'6 and were left open the threads during sewing would become slack, while crossing said slots-and the tension of the stitches would be spoiled so that it is very conceivable that loose loops would occur, uneven stitching, and even frequent breakage of the threads, all of which would be highiyunsatisfactory. Thus, in order to make it possible to maintain a continuous proper tension of the threads and a tight resulting condition of the stitches, the material of the rand |8- during manufacture of the sole is forced into at least the outer ends of the slots to a width corresponding approximately t0 the width of the rubber rand as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5 at 23. Of course, if it should be desired to completely fill the slots with the material forming the rand as shown at 24 in Figure 3, this can be done quite readily although the resiliency of the sole is in some cases somewhat damped and the weight is noticeably increased, not to mention that more rubber is used.

When assembling the sole a preformed blank 2| of rubberized fabric, or other material is first inserted into -a die 25, and the body member l5 laid upon the same with its flat surface facing downwardly and then a rubber rank blank I8 is deposited in the marginal recess of the body member I5, the rand blank projecting more or less above the general surface of the body member and preferably consisting of a semi-hard form of rubber 0r plastic. At most the rubber rand should only be semi-cured so that when an upper die member 2B is pressed down upon the rand some of the material thereof will by extrusion enter the slots I'B, and extend down to the waterproofed material 2| and incorporate therewith. It may be mentioned that the rubberized material may well be covered with a coating of cement in order to encourage adhesion thereof to the wooden body member after pressure has been applied, while the contact of the rubber material from the rand through the marginal portions of the slots |B and II will form a good cemented joint in each case so as to tend to retain the waterproofed sheet in assembled relation to the sole.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, a heel generally indicated at 21 may alone be constructed along the same lines as just described with respect to a whole sole so that a rubber rand 28 is present to form a marginal portion upon a wooden or other main body 29, which is slotted at 3D, 3|, etc., alternately from the opposite edges as before. while the upper surface is protected by a coatingI or sheet 32 of waterproofed material.

Instead of depositing the rubber rand directly in the recess so as to come into direct conteo*J with the wooden body member, it is desirable in some cases to interpose a strip 33 of waterproofed material, such as rubberized fabric or other sheet material prior to placing the rand in position and pressing the same into intimate contact with said strip and by means of the pressure appliedsimultaneously causing adhesion of the strip itself to the surface of the recess, thus bonding the rubber rand 34 to the Wooden body member I5. In corresponding manner a strip or sheet 35 of rubber having the same approximate width as that of recesses may be laid upon the upper surface of the wooden body member alongthe edge thereof, and the sheet of waterproofed material 2| applied on top of the same and the pressure applied to the whole to unite the various Iparts into a composite resilient unit.

It is sometimes also desirable to increase the contact surface and thereby the adhesion between the side and bottom of the recesses and the rubber rand and this may e accomplished by serrating the surface involved as indicated at 36, 3l which will cause the rand 38 to adhere very firmly to the wooden or plastic body member 39, which of course has an upper waterproofed sheet or coating 2 I.

Furthermore, the body member 40 having the usual upper waterproofed coating or sheet 2| with a marginal recess 4| may also have a high rand 42 of rubber, leather or plastic, etc., which projects a distance beyond the lower surface 43 of the body member 40 as particularly shown in Figure 11, while the edges of the rand may be made square as shown, or bevelled, or rounded according to desire.

is 'epreferably'f of; rsolid; rubber. or. resilient. plastic;

In, thisv icase the bottom `of theesole. fat; 49 -may be rather thin.V so as. .merely to cover: the. resilient member :45, while the. amarginal edge: portionll.r willservefwellfor receiving stitches, nails; or the likev whenf securing Ithe. sole` to an. upper.;

In Figure hlt-asimilar structure is `shown as` in the-casel of the-sole-shown in :Figures :l and.2,.ex. cept that thetoplayer of. fabric. or. rubberized ma.` terial. is omitted.. ,'Ihebodyl member .1I 5 .is .similar to that oi Figures land 2, whilethe slotll repre-v sents the alternate slots andf the, rand or rim. `I 8 occupy the recess I 9 so as to bridge .theouter ends of the slots and betweenthefslots extends upto the top ofthe body` member :asshown at 23. The

form of solelshownin section in Figure 15 hasa body member:.'5l wherein a bottom randy 52 ofrubber, leather orilexible plastic occupies a recess as before, whilein a marginal `position to match the position occupedby the4 rand is a strip of leather, rubber, fabric, resilientplastic, or rubberized fabric, or other material 53 secured to the `upper surface-54 `of .the-.body member. In order to secure this. upper strip more perfectly the material of the .lower randzwhenof rubber or resilient plastic. may be forcedup into theslot. 55 as shown at 56,` andthereater.,vulcanizedlor set as particularlysh'own in Figure 16. In allother. particulars the structure as in.Figure .16 are the sameas corresponding portions or members in Figure 15.' The bodyr member 51 ofv thev sole shown in Figure l7has a lower rand 58 andis of course slotted `as indicated at59fbut instead 'of having a completely coveringuppersheet `similar to 2| in Figures l; Zand 3, a smaller and more limited piece. of l`material 6D"`is attached to the upper surface 6 l' of said body member, which may eitherbe. recessed into this member so that the upper surface is ush with lsurface 6|, or it may overlie the top as illustrated in said Figure 17.

In most of the gures previously described a single rand has been shown as occupying a recess in the lower edges of the sole, but it is quite evident that as shown in Figure 18 a body lmember 62 slotted as before at 63 may have an upper rand 64 occupying an upper marginal recess 65 in addition to the lower recess 66 which occupies the lower marginal recess 61. -The two rands may be of the same material or of entirely different materials if so desired, and in either or both cases the rands may be of leather, rubber or resilient plastic. It is quite desirable -to have the upper and lower rands connected intimately so that they not only Will be retained in position but will cooperate to retain the slotted body member 62 within bounds and prevent undue lexure which might cause fracture. In Figure 19 the upper rand B4 is connected with the lower rand 6B by means of the intermediate portion 58 of the material of either or both of said rands which ex* tend between the two in the outer end of slot 63. While'it has been stated that the resilient member in the sole is prefrably of wood or plywood, etc., it is obvious that the same can be Wholly or only partly of firm or rigid plastic material which may include any one or more of the known plastics, while the remainder of the resilient member may be of wood or plywood if the same consists only parti-yor fsuchplastics: Itis also-'quite `evi'- dent that fthefslots may-:be greater :or -f fewer in` number than actually shown iny the drawings for aigivenshoe-sole, while inf every case said member serves either as thefmain bulk'fof. the so1e,'orriat least as considerably ll'er inthe structure thereof.

Thezinvfenti'on inlay'l be -used .Pas vair insole,` half sole, outermairr'sole w'ithfheel or anyfpart` oflai sole or a heel for footwear. Manifestlyvariations.

in thematerialsfused and:the-fformswofy the parts involved `.may .bef. resorted to within: thescope of thegappended. claims..

Having :nowwfully described. four invention, we claim:

1. .Anf outer Vsole 1or thevlike for .footwear comprising-.the combination. of-.amain body'member ofrnormally stiff.v materialhaving .theoutline of. vat least a: half sclexandf afseriesfoftransverse slot portions out entirely throughthe thickness of said: body-,member alternately4 froml each :side edge a limited distance toward the f opposite :side edge, a continuous layer-or coatingcof flexible material secured upon the'upper surface Yoi. saidbody member so as to bridge all the slot portions therein, and. a randl .or marginal strip of -exible material occupyingla perimetralrecess in theedge ofthe oppositel or lowerysurfacefofxthe bodyfmember' so asito. bridge-the. outer endspf said slot portions.

2. An outer soleeoruthelikefor' footwear cornprisi-ng the :combination of. .a .main body ,member of normally stiimaterial having.V the outline off atleast ahalf so1e.-andaseries:of transverse slot portionscut-,entirely throughy the. thickness of said. body,` memberalternatelyfromleachA side edge-afllirnitedf*distance-toward: the opposite :side edge, anday .continuous layer or coating of water-- proofediiexiblefmaterial se'curedaupon the upper surfaceoftsaicl bodyimember so as to bridger all' the slot portionsthereinyandaranci or marginal stripsof elastic materialof the pclassvconsisting of rubber, vinyl plastics fand .other `resilient plastics occupying *..a-.perimetralrecess in thezedge of `the opposite: ori lower-surfacefof tliebody: member: so

` astobridge the `cuter `ends of' saidslot-portions.=

3. Aisole ortheflikeiaccording to. claim -1-,. the

layer of ilexible material being selected from a class consisting of rubberized fabric, waterproofed paper, waterproofed fabric, waterproofed leather, and having the rand in the recess upon the lower surface made of elastic material.

4. A sole or the like according to claim 1, having the rand projecting beyond the lower surface of the body member.

5. A sole or the like according to claim 2, having the elastic material of the rand projecting up through the outer ends of the slot portions into intimate contact with the under side of the continuous layer of material on the upper surface of the body member, the intermediate parts of the slot portions being free from said elastic material.

6. A sole or the like according to claim 2, having the elastic material of the rand projecting up through the slot portions into intimate contact with the under side of the continuous layer of material on the upper surface of the body member.

7. A sole or the like according to claim 2, having the rand projecting beyond the lower surface of the body member.

8. A heel for a shoe or other footwear having a sole, comprisingv the combination of a main body member of normally sti material having y the outline of a heel and a series of transverse slot portions cut entirely through the thickness of said body member alternately from each side combination of a main body member of normally stiff material having the outline of both sole and heel in assembled condition, and a series of transverse slot portions cut entirely through the thickness of said body member alternately from each side edge a limited distance toward the opposite side edge, a continuous layer or coating of flexible material secured upon the upper surface of said body member so as to bridge all the slot portions therein, and a rand or marginal strip of flexible material occupying a perimetral recess in the edge of the opposite or lower surface of the body member so as to bridge the outer ends of said slot portions.

10. An outer sole or the like for footwear comprising the combination of a main body member of normally stiff material having the outline of at least a half sole and a series of transverse slot portions cut through the entire thickness of said body member alternately from each side edge a limited distance toward the opposite side edge, a continuous layer or coating of waterproofed flexible material secured upon the upper surface of said body member so as to bridge all the slot portions therein, and a rand or marginal strip of resilient material including leather occupying a perimetral recess in the edge of the opposite or lower surface of the body member so as to bridge the outer ends of said slot portions, 4

11. A sole or the 1ike for footwear comprising the combination of a main body member of normally stiff material having the outline of at least a half sole and a series of transverse slot portions cut; through said body member alternately from each side edge a limited distance toward the opposte side edge, and a rand or marginal stripiof flexible material'occupying a perimetral recess in each of the upper and lower surfaces of said body member so as to bridge the outer ends of said slot portions.

12. A sole or the like for footwear comprising the combination of a main body member of normally stiff material having the outline of at least a half sole and a series of transverse slot portions' cut through said body member alternately from each side edge a limited distance toward the opposite side edge, and a rand or marginal strip of flexible material occupying a perimetral recess in each of the upper and lower surfaces of said body member so as to bridge the outer ends of said slot portions, at least one of the rands being made of elastic material of the class consisting of rubber, vinyl plastics and other resilient plastics, and some of the material of at least one of said rands extending i'nto the ends of the slot portions into effective contact with the other rand.

13. lA sole or the like for footwear comprising the combination of a main body member of normally stiff material having the outline of at least a half sole and a series of transverse slot portions cut through said body member alternately from each side edge a limited distance toward the opposite side edge, and a rand or marginal strip of elastic material of the classconsisting of rubber, vinyl plastics and other plastics occupying a perimetral recess in the edge of the lower surface of said body member with some of the elastic material of said rand extending up through the outer ends of said slot portions to the upper surface of the body member so as to bridge and close said outer end of the slotportions.

14. A sole or the like according to claim 2, wherein the layer of flexible material applied t0 the upper surface of the body member is selected from the class consisting of rubberized fabric, water-proofed paper, water-proofed fabric and water-proofed leather.

HENRY GHEZ. OSCAR GHEZ. 

